Meetings of the Soldotna City Council could be moved from 6 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. under a resolution set to be considered on June 25.
A resolution by council members Jordan Chilson and Dave Carey was discussed during the group’s meeting on Wednesday. It says that meetings would be moved up 30 minutes to “improve accessibility, efficiency, and availability for both the public and council members.”
The resolution could have been adopted this week, but instead it was postponed after other council members said they wanted the change to see more public attention and questioned whether the move would be beneficial to busy city residents.
Chilson said that moving up the council meetings would align them with some of the other boards and commissions in the city — like planning and zoning commission. He said getting people in earlier for public comment and hearings might let them “get home for dinner and spend time with their families.”
The resolution was pulled from the consent agenda by Vice Mayor Lisa Parker, who said a move as significant as changing the meeting time should have more open dialogue.
“When you’re making changes to how you do business, it’s important for people to know it,” she said.
Chera Wackler, another member, said she wouldn’t support the change because, as a parent with kids and who has other activities going on, it can be challenging to transport children and grab food before making it to the evening meeting. That’s true, she said, for residents and for council members.
Chilson made the motion to postpone, saying that after the feedback he’d heard this week he’d “at least like to give it a little bit more thought.” The motion to postpone was unanimous and the resolution will be heard again on June 25.
The text of the resolution and a video of the meeting can be found at soldotna.org.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
